Elon Musk told shareholders at the company’s annual meeting in September that Tesla was confident that this could, in fact, be done.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has teased the launch date and time of the highly anticipated all-electric semi-truck. He made this announcement on Sunday afternoon ahead of the November 16 unveiling. Musk tweeted the announcement and said that the event would be webcast live. He also promised that the unveiling would blow the minds of Tesla followers.
Previously all reveal webcasts appeared on the Tesla website. Avid followers have stated that the show is set to start at 8 pm Pacific Time on the day. This is given that the Tesla headquarters are situated in Fremont, California. The reveal is one that has been months in the making. Back in April when Musk appeared at the TED 2017 conference he revealed a teaser image of the truck.
Tesla Semi Truck unveil to be webcast live on Thursday at 8pm! This will blow your mind clear out of your skull and into an alternate dimension. Just need to find my portal gun …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 12, 2017
The conference was held in Vancouver. At the time of the reveal, Musk stated that many people did not think anyone could produce a heavy-duty electric truck with a long-range. He told shareholders at the company’s annual meeting in September that Tesla was confident that this could, in fact, be done.
He promised stakeholders that Tesla would show off a working prototype in the not too distant future. Unforeseen delays in the Tesla Model 3 production accompanied by the company’s battery project in Puerto Rico resulted in a delay of the Tesla Semi Truck reveal. The CEO has said that the Tesla Semi Truck will be operational on the roads in 2019.
Adding that the company hopes to reach scale production on the newest edition in two years. Optimistically he told shareholders that production could start in 18 months. The ultimate goal for Tesla is to remove the driver from the equation entirely.
Speaking at the TED 2017 conference, Musk outlined plans for the future of road transport. He has a vision for truck drivers to transition into the role of fleet managers who oversee a number of transport vehicles instead of them driving just one truck. He also said that much of the semi is actually manufactured out of Model 3 parts.
While stating that too much was being revealed he added that the company would use a high-volume vehicle combined with several motors and believes that the vehicle will have a good gross margin.
Creating, even more, hype around the vehicle, Musk said that it will be a very lively truck. He stated that it could be driven around like a sports car. National media also reported that the truck is rumored to have a battery range of between 200 and 300 miles. This will make it useful for shipping considering that the average semi truck is fitted with a 250-gallon tank and still only managed 5.5 miles per gallon.
